Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is available to the agriculture industry in the Highlands and Islands.

Ross Finnie: Farmers and crofters in the Highlands and Islands benefit from the same support arrangements as farmers in all other parts of the country. This includes advice and information from SEERAD and its agencies as well as the main Common Agricultural Policy subsidies which pay some £100 million per annum to farmers and crofters in the Highlands and Islands.

  Highlands and Islands also benefits from measures which are unique to that area including:

  the Agricultural Business Development Scheme which will provide £17 million between 2001 and 2006;

  the Crofting Community Development Scheme worth around £1 million between 2001 and 2006;

  the Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme which has a budget of £2.7 million for 2001-02, and

  the Crofters’ Building Grants and Loan Scheme with a budget of £2.9 million for 2001-02.

  Farmers and crofters in the area also benefit from the Livestock Improvement Scheme and the Highlands and Islands Veterinary Services Scheme.

Ambulance Service

Elaine Thomson (Aberdeen North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase the number of ambulance staff.

Malcolm Chisholm: The service has been investing in more frontline staff and there are today some 200 more paramedics and technicians on emergency ambulances than there were 10 years ago. We are providing the Scottish Ambulance Service with additional funding which will enable it to further increase the numbers of these key staff.

  Moreover, proposals that are currently being considered by the department provide for the service recruiting and training an extra 100 frontline emergency ambulance staff to support priority based dispatch.

Arts

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the City of Edinburgh Council in regard to funding for the Edinburgh International Festival.

Mike Watson: The Executive wishes to ensure, in partnership with other funding bodies, that the Edinburgh International Festival maintains its reputation as one of the world's premier cultural events. It provides a showcase of artistic excellence to Scottish audiences and to visitors from elsewhere in the UK and from overseas, and is a major contributor to the economy and cultural profile of Scotland.

  Following discussions involving myself, the City of Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Arts Council and the Edinburgh International Festival Society (EIF), the Executive will award to the EIF additional £100,000 in each of this and the coming financial years and £200,000 in the financial year 2003-04. This funding will be made through the Scottish Arts Council and will supplement increased grant support from the Scottish Arts Council and the City of Edinburgh Council announced recently.

Education

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent Technical Education teachers are currently in post.

Nicol Stephen: The latest information available from the Teacher Census at September 1998 shows the number of full-time equivalent teachers in publicly funded secondary schools, whose main teaching qualification was in technological education, was 1,418.

  In the primary sector, the great majority of teachers have a general qualification in primary teaching and are not assigned to particular subjects.

Education

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the submissions it received during the drafting of its Draft Guidance on the Circumstances in which Parents may Choose to Educate their Children At Home .

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has no plans to publish submissions received as part of the development process of the draft guidance on the circumstances in which parents may choose to educate their children at home. Responses to the consultation on the draft guidance, which runs until 29 March 2002, will, however, be published. This approach is consistent with Scottish Executive consultation policy.

Enterprise

Mr Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what success it has had with its drive to cut regulations for business, particularly through the "MOT for new regulations".

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive continues to make headway in improving regulation. The Review Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) or Regulatory MOT meets a key concerns of businesses that regulations are reviewed after their introduction. This MOT should ensure that regulations do not become outdated and if found to be obsolete are revoked.

Environment

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with Dundee City Council in regard to the operation of the Baldovie incinerator.

Ross Finnie: The Executive has spoken to Dundee City Council about recent press statements concerning Baldovie incinerator, but there have been no detailed discussions about the operation of the plant.

European Funding

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18817 by Angus MacKay on 16 October 2001, whether the programme of Urban 2 funding to Port Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire has now been approved and when implementation will commence.

Peter Peacock: I am pleased to confirm that the programme was approved by the European Commission on 11 December 2001. Preparatory work by the Scottish Executive and local partners continues. I expect to appoint the Programme Monitoring Committee soon so that implementation can begin around Easter.

Health

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what efforts are being made to tackle delayed discharges in the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: On 9 January 2002, we announced a £20 million package for local authorities and NHSScotland to make a significant reduction in the number of patients experiencing delayed discharge from hospitals across Scotland. This is over and above the £10 million already provided to local authorities for the purpose through their Grant Aided Expenditure settlements. Additionally, an expert group, led by NHSScotland Chief Executive Trevor Jones, has been looking in detail at delayed discharge and the reasons for it. Next month, I will announce an action plan based on the work of this group, and including the distribution arrangements for the new resources, to help drive down the delayed discharge figures.

Health

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage healthy eating amongst pregnant women.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Pregnancy is a major life event. This should be reflected in the way that women are cared for and look after themselves during pregnancy, childbirth and after the baby is born. The Scottish Diet Action Plan, Eating for Health , provides the framework to improve diet across all population groups in Scotland, including pregnant women.

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider compiling statistics centrally on the number of persons subject to failure to appear warrants.

Mr Jim Wallace: We have no plans to start collecting such statistics centrally.

Justice

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to implement the Plotnikoff and Woolfson report An Evaluation of Child Witness Support .

Dr Richard Simpson: Plotnikoff and Woolfson’s report informed the deliberations of the Lord Advocate’s Working Group on Child Witness Support. It also helped to shape the 43 individual recommendations made in the working group’s report, published in 1999. These recommendations are being taken forward by a Scottish Executive Implementation Group set up in September 2001. It is the aim of the group to complete the bulk of its work by the end of 2002.

Justice

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to respond to the recently published evaluation of the Public Defence Solicitors’ Office pilot in Edinburgh.

Mr Jim Wallace: Having carefully considered the evaluation, I have decided to continue with the Edinburgh pilot for a further period beyond the current end date of October 2003, and to consider launching one or two further pilot projects in other locations. I will bring forward the necessary legislative proposals and make a more detailed statement in due course.

Licensing

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage the provision of training for members of local authority licensing boards.

Mr Jim Wallace: We shall consider any recommendations the Nicholson Committee might make in this regard.

Licensing

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its position is that local authority licensing boards should have the power to impose a ban on drinking in public designated areas or streets.

Mr Jim Wallace: We have no plans at present to amend the provisions in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 which provides local authorities with general powers to introduce bylaws which, for example, may ban drinking in public designated areas or streets.

Local Government

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20665 by Peter Peacock on 28 December 2001, which ministers attended the meetings of the Ministerial Working Group on Renewing Local Democracy on 3 October 2000, 13 November 2000 and 13 February 2001.

Peter Peacock: As indicated in the Guide to Collective Decision Making , a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 5884), the Executive operates on the basis of collective responsibility and does not disclose details of the internal processes through which a decision has been made. For that reason, the Executive does not normally comment on which ministers attended specific meetings. Details of the membership of Cabinet Sub-Committees are made available on the Scottish Executive website.

Local Government

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities have any responsibility for reviewing the conduct of community councils.

Peter Peacock: Local authorities are responsible for the administration of community council schemes, including how they conduct their business.

Rail Services

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on rail transport in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) recipient of funding and (b) budget heading.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is as follows:

  


Recipient 
  

Budget Heading 
  

1999-2000
outturn
(£ million) 
  

2000-01
outturn
(£ million) 
  

2001-02
outturn to 31 December 2001
(£ million) 
  



Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) 
  

Grants for rail services in Scotland* 
  

Not applicable 
  

Not applicable 
  

£55.9 
  



Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) 
  

Other local authority grants for transport 
  

£86.3 
  

£76.6 
  

£53.6 
  



  * Prior to 2001-02, payments to the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) for grants for rail services in Scotland were made by DTLR. Responsibility for paying the SRA was one of the functions transferred to Scottish ministers as a result of the railways devolution settlement.

Recycling

Iain Smith (North-East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Audit Commission’s report on Environmental and Regulatory Services, what further measures it intends to take to ensure that local authorities take action to improve the recycling of waste.

Ross Finnie: The 11 Area Waste Plans currently being prepared will identify how local authorities and others can improve waste management, including recycling. We have established the Strategic Waste Fund to assist local authorities in implementing the plans. We also intend to set mandatory recycling targets informed by the Area Waste Plans to ensure that the best practicable environmental option for waste management in each area has been taken into account. We will amend existing legislation to enable such targets to be set.

Road Safety

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the effectiveness of Route Accident Reduction Plans where such plans have been implemented.

Lewis Macdonald: The effectiveness of Route Accident Reduction Plans is monitored by comparing the accident figures for the three years preceding the implementation of the plan with those for the three years following completion of the works.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive when it now expects to lay before the Parliament the Order to dissolve the Scottish Transport Group.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-20831 on 24 December 2001.

Sexual Abuse

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support survivors of sexual abuse.

Malcolm Chisholm: We have just issued Beyond Trauma: Mental Health Care Needs Of Women Who Survived Childhood Sexual Abuse to the health and social care agencies, asking them to respond positively to its recommendations for service improvements. It is a research report on current service provision for survivors of sexual abuse published by the Edinburgh Association for Mental Health.

  Signalling the importance I attach to this issue, I announced on 19 February a grant of £120,000 over three years to the Moira Anderson Foundation to help raise awareness of the needs of survivors and to expand local self help groups. I also announced £53,000 over two years to the Edinburgh Association for Mental Health to evaluate the operation of a national telephone helpline service for survivors of sexual abuse.

  We have also published guidance on the best organisation of psychological interventions services. This recognises the importance of "talking treatments" for survivors, a need highlighted in the Beyond Trauma research report.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Social Inclusion Partnership projects operating in Glasgow were closed down in each of the last three years.

Ms Margaret Curran: One Social Inclusion Partnership project in Glasgow was closed down early from April 1999 to date.

Social Work

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to help recruit and retain social workers.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive will be working closely with the newly created Scottish Social Services Council and other organisations in the coming months to put together a range of national and local strategies to address this issue.

Waste Management

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all European legislation and directives on the disposal of waste and recycling which have not yet been implemented and what the timetable is for their implementation.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is in the process of implementing three waste and recycling directives into national law:

  1. the Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC). We plan to issue a consultation paper with proposed regulations to implement the technical aspects of the directive shortly and for these to be finalised by summer. We plan to consult later in 2002 on the allocation of permits to local authorities in order to limit the landfill of biodegradable municipal waste.

  2. the End-of Life Vehicles Directive (2000/53/EC). A consultation paper was issued last year. We are currently working with DEFRA, DTI and the other devolved administrations to prepare a scheme of producer responsibility for the motor manufacturing industry to be introduced later this year, and

  3. the Waste Incineration Directive (2000/76/EC). We plan to issue a consultation paper on implementation of this directive later this year.

  Legislation to amend the current implementation of the Waste Framework Directive (75/442/EEC) and the Hazardous Waste Directive (91/689/EEC) is due to be put into place this year. Guidance to local authorities on the collection and disposal of equipment containing small amounts of PCBs is currently being finalised to fulfil implementation of the PCB Waste Directive (96/59/EC). We are considering, along with other UK Government departments, further action to implement fully the requirements of the Waste Oils Directive (75/439/EEC).

Water Industry (Scotland) Bill

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5173/2002 of 16 January 2002, whether the £10,000 threshold on annual income for the charitable relief scheme under the Water Industry (Scotland) Bill will apply to the income of the organisation as a whole or to income derived from the premises for which relief is sought.

Allan Wilson: News release SE5341/2002 of 13 February 2002, available on the Scottish Executive website, announced a revised income threshold of £50,000 per annum for the exemption scheme for charitable organisations currently receiving reliefs on their water charges. The income referred to will be that of the organisation liable for the water charges for the relevant premises. The Executive recognises that clear guidance will be required on the definition of income and will consult interested parties to ensure that this is provided.

Women Offenders

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the report of the Ministerial Working Group on Women’s Offending will be available.

Dr Richard Simpson: The Ministerial Working Group’s report was published today, and is available on the Scottish Executive website.